In his early years he reported the first free elections in Poland, the fall of Berlin Wall and the Romanian Revolution, as well as spending long periods as acting Moscow correspondent.

After a short spell as a political correspondent in 1993 he became South Asia correspondent based in Delhi.

He reported frequently from Kashmir, and Sri Lanka, and followed the rise of the Taleban in Afghanistan. His crew were the only journalists with the Taleban when they took Kabul.

After returning to Britain he was acting defence correspondent in 1997.

The following year he focussed on Kosovo in a series of reports culminating in the discovery of a massacre. That report won the Royal Television Society award for Foreign News, and David was also made RTS Journalist of the Year in the same awards, for a portfolio which included Kosovo and a film for the BBC's Newsnight programme from Hurricane Mitch.

David currently focuses on international development as the BBC's developing world correspondent. His report for BBC Four News in 2003 exposing illegal logging in Cambodia, resulted in the first-ever withdrawal of a logging licence by the Cambodian government.

He continues to report from conflict zones, spending more than two months in Afghanistan after 9/11, and two months in Iraq during the war in 2003.

Before joining the BBC in 1985 David was named Sony Radio Reporter of the Year, for a series of reports from India following the death of Indira Gandhi.